Extra point conversion attempt stopped ... The Kadoka Kougars were under Philip Scottie pressure all game. Philip won its first game of the season 28-20. Photo by Robyn Jones

In their first football match of the 2008 season on August 29, the Philip High School Scotties defeated the Kadoka Area Kougars at the Kadoka field. The final score was Scotties - 28, Kougars - 20.

The first score of the game came when Kadoka's Michael Herber received a 67 yard touchdown pass from Chris Byrd. The extra point attempt failed. The rest of the first quarter remained scoreless. In the second quarter, Philip was back in the game when Jeff O'Connell caught a three yard touchdown pass from Jeb Stewart. Philip's extra point attempt failed.

Kougar Karl Ireland caught a 20 yard touchdown pass from Byrd. Then, Byrd ran in for the extra two points, putting the score at the end of the half at Kadoka - 14, Philip - 6. Philip's Brandon O'Dea was injured in the second quarter and was out for the rest of the game.

Coming back in the third quarter, the Scotties scored six points with an eight yard touchdown pass from Stewart to O'Connell. Tate Guptill caught a pass from Stewart to earn the two-point conversion. O'Connell caught another pass from Stewart for a 14 yard touchdown. The extra point attempt failed. Kadoka did not score in the third quarter and it ended with Philip - 20, Kadoka - 14.

In the fourth quarter, Philip's Casey Cvach ran in a 64 yard touchdown. The two conversion points were made by O'Connell from a Stewart pass. Kadoka's Ireland caught a 12 yard pass from Byrd for a touchdown. The extra point attempt failed. That was the last touchdown of the night, with a final score of Philip - 28, Kadoka - 20.

During the game, Philip gained 23 first downs. Cvach ran a total of 187 yards on 20 attempts. Karch Foley ran for a total of 53 yards on eight attempts. O'Dea ran 39 yards on eight attempts.

Stewart had eight pass completions out of 13 attempts. He passed for a total of 90 yards, including three touchdown passes.

Defensively, Foley earned two unassisted tackles, 14 assisted tackles and one fumble recovery. Colin Van Lint had two unassisted tackles and 12 assisted tackles. Stewart had one unassisted tackle, two assisted tackles and one interception, which came in the second half of the game. Guptill made one unassisted tackle, eight assisted tackles and one quarterback sack. Troy Guptill earned three unassisted tackles, seven assisted tackles and one quarterback sack.

Philip forced Kadoka to punt five times, while punting itself only three times. Philip held Kadoka's rushing game to an average of a negative number, though their passing game gained 150 yards. Philip had six penalties. According to their own statistics, Kadoka had four penalties.

The next scheduled game for the Philip Scotties will start at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, September 5, at Murdo against the Jones County Coyotes. The following game will be against the Harding County Ranchers of Friday, September 12.